Socioeconomic inequalities in digital practices and outcomes: Evidence from OECD countries

Socioeconomic inequalities in students' digital outcomes persist even in education systems where access to digital technologies is widespread. This study examines how digital practices are associated with two self-reported outcomes, digital self-efficacy and online information verification, and whether these associations vary across countries and students’ socioeconomic status in high-access contexts. The study draws on data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022, encompassing approximately 216,000 students across 27 OECD countries. Results show socioeconomic inequalities in both outcomes, with larger disparities observed in digital self-efficacy. Descriptive analyses show large socioeconomic differences in perceived quality of ICT access at school and school-related digital practices. Across OECD countries, ICT quality at school and school-related digital practices, including inquiry-based information and communication technology (ICT) use and ICT use for school-related activities outside the classroom, are positively associated with both outcomes. The strength of these associations varies across countries and between the two outcomes, with ICT use for school activities outside the classroom showing larger associations with online information verification than inquiry-based ICT use. Interaction analyses show that these associations are broadly similar across socioeconomic groups, with limited and inconsistent evidence of moderation. These results suggest that socioeconomic disparities in the two outcomes are more closely related to differences in students’ engagement with digital practices than to differences in how these practices are associated with outcomes across socioeconomic groups. The findings suggest that equitable engagement in school-related digital practices may be an important consideration in efforts to address socioeconomic disparities in digital outcomes.